No Time to Wait: The Health Kids Strategy - Ontario

A Problem 30 Yearsin the MakingThe problem of childhood obesity did notdevelop overnight. Over the past 30 years, ouryoung people – like many adult Ontarians –have been getting heavier. Between 1978/79and 2004, the prevalence of obesity andoverweight in Ontario children increasedabout 70 per cent. While the proportionof children between the ages of two and fivewho are overweight or obese has not changedsignificantly, the proportion of 12- to17-year-olds who are overweight increasedfrom 14 per cent to 29 per cent and, of those,the proportion who are obese tripled(three per cent to nine per cent). 12Experts in the field, parents and familieshave been sounding the alarm for some time.Over the past 10 years, a growing number ofstudies and reports – international, nationaland provincial – have described the problemof unhealthy weights and recommendedaction. Canadian parents said obesity is theleading health issue affecting children andyouth. 13 The problem and the consequenceshave been well documented – and we nowknow more about the complex causes ofoverweight andobesity. But, wehave not yet seenthe comprehensive,concerted actionneeded to solve theproblem.The 2009-2011 CanadianHealth Measures Survey toldus that our kids today arefatter, rounder, weaker andless flexible than their parentswere a generation ago.Percentage of overweight or obese Canadian children and youth, 1978/79and 2004 1421% 21%15%6%13% ‡ 26%*18%8%14% ‡ 29%*11% ‡3% ‡20%*9%*1978/79 † 2004 1978/79 † 2004 1978/79 20042 to 56 to 1112 to 17Age GroupObeseOverweight†Obesity estimate has a coefficient of variation greater than 33.3 per cent; therefore, it cannot be released and the combinedoverweight/obesity prevalence is shown.* Significantly different from estimate for 1978/79 (p